Elderly retirees comprise a growing population of potentially footloose consumers whose residential choices have important implications for the localities and regions in which they choose to settle. Certain countries presently are experiencing noteworthy influxes of elderly newcomers, and others may be verging on such growth. This study focuses on counties as units of analysis. Its objectives are: (1) to develop a new set of analytical measures for studying the elderly population's annually changing distribution between 1965 and 1977; and (2) to identify county characteristics associated with these changes. The major emphasis will be on explaining why elderly Americans are becoming more concentrated in certain counties and elucidating the demographic processes by which these changes are occurring. The rationale for this study derives from both the theoretical deficiency regarding elderly migration and the strengths of the data to be used. Theoretically, the research will advance our understanding of migration by elucidating: (1) consumption-oriented forms of migration (of which elderly migration may be only one), and (2) the characteristics of places that are associated with attractiveness to, or retention of, the elderly.